Children Need Not Be Afraid On Flights

November 10, 1985|By Brad Smith, United Press International

During peak summer and holiday times, thousands of young children fly on airlines without their parents or anyone else to help them. Some are almost literally scared to death, while others are happily excited.

``I remember one little boy who grabbed the armrest as we were taking off and he started yelling at the top of his lungs: `We`re falling! We`re falling!` He wouldn`t let go and he wouldn`t stop crying,`` says Cheryl Scott Grindeland, a flight attendant for Frontier Airlines.

Grindeland, who calmed the child by making a toy out of a coffee cup and spoon, heads a program at the airline to make its employees more aware of how to take care of young children who are alone.

Most airlines designate children between 5 and 11 flying alone as ``unaccompanied minors,`` and provide special services if asked. There frequently is an additional fee for the service. Children under the age of 5 are not allowed to fly alone, while older children are considered mature enough not to need extraordinary service.

Bob Schulman, the public relations director for Frontier, estimates up to 10,000 ``unaccompanied minors`` fly the nation`s airlines every day of the summer. Most are flying to visit relatives or close family friends, although a few fly to summer camps or for other reasons.

Grindeland thinks the young boy who was worried the plane was falling might have been prevented the fear if he had been better prepared by his parents.

``We were taking off and going through turbulence and he just thought we were falling,`` she said. ``He was terrified.

``It is up to the parents to let their kids know what to expect, maybe even take them to the airport and watch the planes take off and land. It certainly shouldn`t be a fearful experience.``

Some children are stressful before they make the flight, which compounds any fears.

``When we have kids crying, it often is because they`re from divorced parents and they`re leaving mom to visit dad, or the other way around,`` Grindeland said. ``They`re the ones who are the most upset. They`re crying when they leave their parent and they cry the whole way there. When they get to the other end they`re calmed down because they get to see the other parent, but on the return flight the same thing happens.``

Grindeland has the following suggestions for adults sending children off on a plane alone:

(BU) In booking the flight, tell the travel agent or airline reservationist that the child will be traveling alone and ask about the airline`s procedures for unaccompanied minors.

(BU) Try to get a seat for the child as close as possible to the front of the plane, where the flight attendant can see him easily.

(BU) Special paperwork will be needed, showing details of the flight, including who`s meeting the child at the destination.

(BU) Coloring books, crayons and some snacks are provided by the airline, but other personal items like toys or books often are a good idea for longer flights.

(BU) Tell the child not to leave the plane alone. Grindeland says Frontier will have a representative meet and escort the child to the designated representative of the family at the destination.

``We have a room (at Stapleton International Airport in Denver) where the kids are taken if they have time between flights,`` Grindeland said. ``They stay in the room, which has a video movie player and things to do and there`s somebody there to watch them. We don`t want them to just sit in the terminal, because they could wander off with just anybody.``

Young children fly all over the United States unattended, Grindeland says. ``Some kids are seasoned travelers.``

Grindeland recalls one 10-year-old girl from Casper, Wyo., whose landing at Denver was interrupted by a tornado. The flight went to Grand Junction, where the plane sat on the ground nearly four hours.

The 10-year-old, a girl named Jeri, delighted the other passengers during the wait by passing around peanuts and candy and serving cold drinks.

``Because of Jeri`s efforts, what could have been an airplane full of grumbling, angry passengers turned into an airplane load of happy and smiling faces,`` Grindeland says. ``She never complained once. It influenced the rest of the passengers to be cheerful.``